1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for the distribution, management and redemption of incentives. In particular, the present invention generally relates to systems and methods for the distribution, management and redemption of commercial incentives, including but not limited to electronic discounts, games or personal information management.
2. Background
In marketing, the term “coupon” typically refers to a ticket or document that can be exchanged for something of value, such as a financial discount or rebate, when purchasing a product or service. Coupons are thus intended to incentivize a consumer to purchase the subject product or service. Coupons have traditionally been distributed in paper form through mail, magazines, newspapers, or the like. More recently, coupons have also been distributed to consumers in electronic form via the Internet and via mobile devices such as cellular phones.
From the consumer standpoint, conventional coupon distribution and redemption practices suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, cutting out and collecting paper coupons is a cumbersome and time-consuming task. Even after clipping a coupon, consumers may nevertheless forget to bring the coupon with them when going to make a purchase, which can be extremely frustrating. Electronic coupons distributed via the Internet suffer from similar issues, since consumers must still take time to print out the electronic coupon and then remember to bring it with them at the time of purchase.
Also, consumers often have a difficult time finding coupons that relate to the products and services in which they are most interested. Many paper coupons are distributed via mass mailings and as magazine and newspaper inserts and thus are not targeted to a particular consumer or groups of consumers. Limited forms of consumer targeting have been used in distributing paper and electronic coupons to consumers (e.g., sending coupons to consumers who have previously purchased the same product or service). However, these limited forms of targeting do not take into account spatial, temporal, social and topical information to more precisely match coupons with the consumers that are most likely to use them. Furthermore, there is currently no mechanism available for rewarding consumers who pass coupons on to other consumers who may be interested in them.
From the perspective of the business operator, conventional coupon distribution and redemption practices also suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, for the business operator, publishing a coupon is like placing a wager on future business because the terms of the coupon must be fixed prior to publication and because the coupon must be valid for a fixed period of time. Since the terms of the coupon cannot be modified after publication to account for changing business conditions (such as changing sales or inventory levels), there is a substantial amount of guesswork involved in determining whether and/or by how much a particular coupon distribution will benefit a business.
Furthermore, business operators have a difficult time placing coupons into the hands of the consumers most likely to use them. Business operators typically distribute coupons in a manner that is centralized and limited to the venues in which the business operator chooses to publish the coupon. A “buckshot” approach is often used in the hopes that the coupons will come into contact with consumers having an interest in the subject of the coupon. As noted above, some limited methods exist for targeted delivery of coupons to a consumer or group of consumers, but such limited methods do not take into account spatial, temporal, social and topical information to more precisely match coupons with the consumers that are most likely to use them. Furthermore, as noted above, such methods do not provide an incentive for consumers to pass coupons on to other consumers who may be interested in them.
What is needed then is a system and method for the distribution and redemption of incentives, including commercial incentives such as electronic coupons, that overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings associated with conventional coupon distribution and redemption practices.